Vietnam's rare Javan rhinoceros was declared extinct in that area after poachers killed the last remaining animal in the country for its horns, the World Wildlife Fund said.

“Vietnam must see this loss as another warning sign of its looming wave of species extinctions,” Dr. Barney Long, WWF’s Asian species expert, said in a statement. “The single most important action that is needed to save remaining threatened species like tigers and elephants is protection.”

The country had been struggling to keep the population alive amid widespread poaching that the WWF said was the cause of many Asian rhino species being brought to the "brink of extinction."

The WWF said people in certain parts of Asia believe the horns, when ground down and dissolved in boiling water, help treat typhoid fever or even cancer, the WWF said, noting that there has been no scientific proof of that.

The group said trying to bring the species back into the area won't work.

“Reintroduction of the rhinoceros to Vietnam is not economically or practically feasible," WWF’s Asian Elephant and Rhino Program Coordinator Dr. Christy Williams said. "It is gone from Vietnam forever."

So now, the Javan rhino only exists in one area in the world, according to the WWF.

The Javan rhinoceros is in danger of becoming extinct.

The group reported that there is one population of less than 50 animals in the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia. Now, workers will turn their attention there, working with anti-poaching patrols to hopefully keep the species from going extinct.

“For the Javan rhino, we now have to focus entirely on one site in Indonesia where strengthened protection is needed along with fast-tracking the proposed translocation and habitat management,” Long said.

Well, look on the bright side. We know Vietnam is a crappy place for this animal to live in the wild, and with captive Rhinos living abroad in zoos they'll be safer than in Vietnam. ALSO, the poachers are now out of inventory so they just F%^$ed themselves out of a job.

What was said is not racist. It's the truth. Most Asians would rather kill their animals for food, cures, and money than protect them. Plus it's not just Asians. Europeans hunted the buffalo to almost extinction. All over this planet humans hunt animals to near or full extinction. Those animals play a role in the servival of this planet whether you believe that or not. They don't teach biology and the other science in grade school for the heck of it.

You will all see. Humans continue to pillage the earths plants, animals, and resources.....and there will not be an earth for our future generations to live on. If you think I am talking poop...then you are just in denial. Science is truth. If you think other wise then you must have been dropped on your head. What more in proof do you want?

"When animals like rhinos eat they effect the landscape of that environment which in turn effects other plants and animals, including humans. Losing species of animals puts other plants and animals in jeopardy. Really, you should have learned about this as a child."
This is true, and I did learn this as a child. I also learned that humans have a thing called "intellect", and the best ability in the world to COPE WITH OUR SURROUNDINGS using this intellect. If you want to run around and cry whenever a cute animal goes extinct, it is your right.....but in my opinion it is a colossal waste of time.

Yeah, and this "intellect" thing is what those that actually have it use to understand that killing everything is a really BAD idea! Maybe someday you too will undestand that, but in the mean-time, at least you have proven that the neanderthal is not completely extinct.

So you could care less how many species are wiped off the face of the planet as long as it doesn't affect you personally? How very self centered of you. I suspect you don't stray too far from whatever small corner of the world you live in, do you?

" Losing species of animals puts other plants and animals in jeopardy. Really, you should have learned about this as a child."

If you learned this as a child...just as I did...then why not care? You are obviously educated enough. You don't care if your future generations don't have a place to live? That they just die off with the rest of Earth?

The Dodo was hunted to extinction hundreds of years ago... and.... nothing changed. The earth is still here. Humans are still here. We are all still here. Nothing changed. Species come and go, no big deal. Treehuggers and PETA need to face reality. Sooner or later Human Beings will become extinct, and guess what? The earth would still be here then.

yes things did change, All the future generations of humans on this planet will never have the oportunity to see a Dodo becasue they were hunted to extinction. What if Dodo egg shells held the cure for all
cancer?

No seriously. Tell me something significant that happened right after the Dodo became extinct. Something that adversely affected the entire planet when the last Dodo gasped for its last breath. Something? Anyone? Nothing? Exactly. It's not like "The Last Rare Rhino Dies and everyone had syphilis".

While you are right that world hasn't ended without the Dodo there is a species of tree on the island they inhabited that could go extinct as a result. It turns out that the seeds for that tree need to pass through the digestive system of a Dodo in order to germinate. We might be able to artificially replicate the process and so grow new trees of this type, but last I heard this problem wasn't discovered until hundreds of years after the Dodo's were gone.

The danger to us as a species is that the interconnections between all the parts of an ecosystem seem to be beyond our comprehension. What are the real odds that we could cause an extinction that would hurt us in a significant way? The answer is that we simply don't know and so just allowing some people to cause extinctions willy nilly for personal short term profit is a danger to us all.

What makes his comment D baggish is the fact that he shows no concern for life, human or animal, at all. I myself would like my future generations to have a place to live and have the chance at life. No one here, or what you call tree huggers, denies that we all die. What bothers people like them, and people like me, are retards that are selfish. They think it's okay to pollute and kill animals now because in the future they won't be around to see the damage they caused. 99% of humans lack courtesy. Treehuggers are all about the future, and compassion. Something you obviously lack as a human.

@SeanNJ....honestly? When I look around....there are very few humans that I think are good people. So my answer would be......1% of the human population is worth saving. I could care less about the other 99% If you can't show compassion then you aren't worth the air you breath. But I do believe that the human species has a right to exist. As long as they can co-exist with the other species of living things on this planet. We are steadily proving that we can't co-exist with anything. Not even ourselves.

"Mother" nature this. "Mother" nature that. You people are ignorant and/or delusional. Do you really think that there is a "Mother" nature? Go to a mythology or theology site! There is no such thing as an all loving, benevolent and caring earth spirit. Species come. Species go. It has been this way since there was a "species." I bet all of you "Mother" nature people would die within three days if left in the tender arms of your "Earth Spirit".

Extinction in itself is not bad. It is a natural process. Hundreds of thousands of species have gone extinct since the beginning of time.
Only when man contributes to the extinction is it wrong.
In Judaeo-Christian belief, God created humans in his image, and states their purpose to fill the earth, and to have dominion of it, and all of God's other creations such as animals and food. As such we must act as protectors of these creatures and the earth, not be the cause of them becoming extinct.
The loss of just one species at the hand of man is truly a failing of all humanity.

Nice message but we shouldn't rely on a book full of magic and contradictory nonsense to guide us. Especially when that book puts the age of the world at 7,000 years. What we should do is use COMMON SENSE! Regardless of how we got here or what your ideology might be, it is a moral and self preserving imperitive that we learn to be better custodians of the planet that sustains us. Relying on an imaginary deity to guide us isn't working. In fact, it's making it worse.

This is a loss that this could have been prevented, but the species can rebound if conservationists and zoologists are allowed a free hand in Indonesia. But, really people? The larger picture here is that literally thousands of species have gone extinct. Are we going to lament their demise and pine for them to return? Be careful what you wish for. In many instances, mankind would certainly NOT be at the top of the food chain if the Theropod species (Giganotosaurus, T-Rex, Velociraptor ) Pterodactyle species (some were as large as small airplanes) and the big cat species had survived. I wouldn't mind at all if Starlings and all of the non indigenous species that were let loose by irresponsible owners went extinct in America.

You're kidding right?! Invasive species like Starlings are nothing like indigenous species like the Javan Rhino. Yes, it would be a good thing to right the wrong that humans caused by introducing starlings to a place they don't belong by eradicating them. Not to mention that T-Rex and Humans are separated by millions of years. Needless to say, T-Rex extinction had NOTHING to do with Humanity's irresponsible, greedy and neglegent activity and ill-treatment and total lack of respect for Nature that begat us. In shout, you are farting higher than your A$$.

You missed the point. Some species needed to go extinct for obvious reasons so the relatively small human population back then would not be at risk. Now days there are groups that advocate for the animal population and against the human population. Some value the lives of animals so high, they advocate the human population be reduced to 500 million or less (Google Georgia Guidestones), which amounts to a localized extinction of humans. Mankind was intended to have dominion over animals as good stewards, but not subject to them. I reject the idea of reduction to the human population, in favor of animals. Who decides who lives and who dies, and who's first?

It's not racist. It's true. People are so stupid. You won't be saying "racism" or "Mother Nature nut" when this world is bare and you are starving to death because humans have ruined it's atmosphere and killed off all of it's plants and animals.

About This Blog

This blog – This Just In – will no longer be updated. Looking for the freshest news from CNN? Go to our ever-popular CNN.com homepage on your desktop or your mobile device, and join the party at @cnnbrk, the world's most-followed account for news.